Line #30 Music/HotRats


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/frank-zappa-hot-rats-1969_3179.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:A movie for your ears...]]
3
4	-> ''"The very idea! An all-instrumental album, except for one vocal cut — and that had to feature Music/CaptainBeefheart! He's no singer! Why are you wasting America's precious time with this, you asshole!"''
5	-->-- '''Music/FrankZappa''', sarcastically looking back at the bad reception of ''Hot Rats'' at the time in the USA, in his autobiography ''Literature/TheRealFrankZappaBook'' (1989)
6
7	''Hot Rats'' (1969) is a mostly instrumental music album by Music/FrankZappa. It was Zappa's second ''official'' solo album after ''Music/LumpyGravy'' (1968) and was the first to be released after disbanding his original Mothers of Invention band. Ian Underwood was the only former member of the Mothers to appear on this album. The inclusion of Music/CaptainBeefheart was a guest spot happening around the same time when Zappa produced Beefheart's album ''Music/TroutMaskReplica'' (1969).
8
9	''Hot Rats'' is widely praised as one of Zappa's best albums and is generally his most well-beloved record for people who aren't really fans of his work. The total absence of many of Zappa's trademarks (political and social {{satire}}, comedy, bawdy jokes, sudden experimental interruptions,...) may well explain its popularity. There's only one track with lyrics, "Willie The Pimp", sang by Music/CaptainBeefheart, and even his voice disappears after the first two minutes. [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Back then it flopped in the USA, but it was a top ten hit record in England and the Netherlands]]. Musically ''Hot Rats'' is sometimes categorized as {{jazz}} and indeed has elements of this genre. Its most popular track is "Peaches En Regalia", which became a regular concert favorite.
10
11	The album is also the first part of what could be called Zappa's {{Jazz}} Fusion trilogy, along with ''Music/WakaJawaka'' and ''Music/TheGrandWazoo'' (both from 1972).
12
13	!!Tracklist
14	[[AC:Side One]]
15	# "Peaches en Regalia" (3:38)
16	# "Willie the Pimp" (9:21)
17	# "Son of Mr. Green Genes" (8:58)
18
19	[[AC:Side Two]]
20	# "Little Umbrellas" (3:06)
21	# "The Gumbo Variations" (12:53) [[note]] (16:55) on the 1986-1995 CD pressings[[/note]]
22	# "It Must Be a Camel" (5:15)
23
24	!!Personnel
25	* Music/FrankZappa: guitar, octave bass, percussion
26	* Ian Underwood: piano, organus maximus, flute, clarinet, saxophone
27	* Max Bennett and Shuggie Otis: bass
28	* Music/CaptainBeefheart: vocals
29	* John Guerin, Paul Humphrey, Ron Selico: drums
30	* Don "Sugarcane" Harris and Jean-Luc Ponty: violin
31	* Lowell George: rhythm guitar
32	* Cal Schenkel and John Williams [[note]] No, not the film composer of Spielberg fame.[[/note]]: album cover design
33
34	!! Tropes En Regalia:
35	* AlbumTitleDrop: "Willie The Pimp".
36	--> ''HOT MEAT HOT RATS HOT ZITZ HOT WRISTS HOT RITZ HOT ROOTS HOT SOOTS''
37	* CallBack and ContinuityNod:
38	** Captain Beefheart appears in the sleeve notes holding a vacuum cleaner. Vacuum cleaner imagery would return on ''Music/ChungasRevenge'' (1970), ''Film/TwoHundredMotels'' (1971) and ''Music/OneSizeFitsAll'' (1975).
39	** "Hot Rats" is one of the stars in the sky on the album cover of ''Music/OneSizeFitsAll''.
40	** A man in a suit with a "bow-tie neck" is described in "Willie The Pimp". Bow-tie imagery appeared earlier on ''Music/WereOnlyInItForTheMoney'' (1967) in the song "Bow-Tie Daddy", and later on ''Music/JoesGarage'' in "Packard Goose".
41	*** Beefheart sings "wanna buy a grunt with a third party check" in "Willie the Pimp". The musician thanks his name to an aborted film project by Zappa named ''Captain Beefheart vs. The Grunt People''.
42	** "Son of Mr. Green Genes" is a CallBack to, and new version of, the song "Mr. Green Genes" on ''Music/UncleMeat'' (1969).
43	** Zappa and the Mothers would perform "Peaches En Regalia" and "Willie The Pimp" live on ''Music/FillmoreEastJune1971'' (1971).
44	** The water tub on the cover of ''Music/WakaJawaka'' (1973) reads "hot" and "rats".
45	** ''Music/OrchestralFavorites (1979)'' was originally titled "Hot Rats III".
46	* CrossOver: Music/CaptainBeefheart sings at the start of "Willie The Pimp".
47	* {{Dedication}}: The album is dedicated to Zappa's then new born son Dweezil.
48	* EpicRocking: "Willie the Pimp" (9:21), "Son of Mr. Green Genes" (8:58) and "The Gumbo Variations" (12:53).
49	* FakeOutFadeOut: "It Must Be Camel" seems to end after a few minutes, then comes back and goes full phase again. When the ending melodies return for the second time the track is over for real.
50	* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion / TheNotRemix: Like all of Zappa's albums, ''Hot Rats'' received remixing and digital effects for its original CD release. In ''Hot Rats''[='=] case, the entire album was drastically changed, including new organ and woodwind sections that were mixed out, as well as four additional minutes on "The Gumbo Variations", bringing it to 16:55. The guitar solo of "Willie the Pimp" was even re-edited to include different material. The original vinyl mix wouldn't see the light of day until its 2009 reissue on vinyl, and its 2012 reissue on CD. The Hot Rats Sessions box set released in 2019 would include the 1987 digital remix on one of the discs and is available on streaming services alongside the original.
51	* IAmXSonOfY: "Son of Mr. Green Genes".
52	* InfraredXRayCamera: The album cover was shot in this color technique.
53	* {{Instrumentals}}: Most tracks are instrumental in nature. Only "Willie the Pimp" has some vocals by Captain Beefheart at the start, and "The Gumbo Variations" has some StudioChatter at the beginning.
54	* [[{{Jazz}} Jazz Fusion]]: Stylistically, the album sounds mostly like this.
55	* NewSoundAlbum: Zappa did all kinds of bizarre instrumental overdubbings (especially on the original CD remix), giving the album its colourful, smooth sound.
56	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: "Willie the Pimp" was inspired by a real life incident, explained during "The Story of Willie the Pimp" on Zappa's ''Mystery Disc''.
57	* RemixAlbum: The initial CD version used the same tapes as the vinyl version, but drastically changed the overall sound by bringing certain instruments to the forefront and burying others in the mix. And "The Gumbo Variations" somehow got four minutes longer.
58	* ShoutOut:
59	** "Son of Mr. Green Genes" is a shout-out to the character Mr. Green Jeans from the children's TV series ''Series/CaptainKangaroo''. The "Son of" part of the title refers to an earlier vocal version of the song, "Mr. Green Genes", which appeared on the album ''Music/UncleMeat''. Despite this, the full title of this song led to the UrbanLegend that Zappa was really the son of the actor who played this character.
60	** "Willie The Pimp" was covered by Alex Harvey on his album ''The Joker Is Wild'' (1972).
61	** "Little Umbrellas" was sampled by the Belgian rock group Music/{{dEUS}} on the track "W.C.'s First Draft" from their album ''Music/WorstCaseScenario'' (1994).
62	** Former Music/{{Supergrass}} members Gaz Coombes and Danny Goffey named their side-project band The Hotrats after this album.
63	* SpecialGuest: Music/CaptainBeefheart on vocals during "Willie the Pimp".
64	* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Music/TheGrandWazoo'' (1972) and ''Music/WakaJawaka'' (1972).
65	* StudioChatter: Zappa's band instructions at the beginning of "The Gumbo Variations". This is the only instance of this on the whole album, which made ''Hot Rats'' more listenable to non-Zappa devotees, who couldn't stand the dialogue snippets on previous albums.
66	* UnusualEuphemism: Zappa describes the album in the liner notes as "a movie for your ears".
67	* YourLittleDismissiveDiminutive: "Little Umbrellas".

Context Music / HotRats